Tag: Niger

Freedom of Press (and Lack Thereof) in Africa

Scan African news outlets for a few days and you’ll inevitably come across a story like this that underscores the problems that Africa faces. In November, a journalist in Niger was sentenced to six months in jail. His offense? Daring to question the shady process by which government contracts are awarded.

Mamane Abou, the owner and editor of the daily La Republican, had the temerity to criticize the government for using a no-bid process for routine contracts and pointing out that secret documents showed that the government of Niger was making illegal payments of $7 million to companies with close ties to Niger Prime Minister Hama Amadou.

To reinforce the lack of any rule of law, Abou was convicted of libel at a trial where neither he nor his lawyers were actually present.

You just can’t run a country like that — and Niger and other African countries have been proving that for years.

Source:

Niger sentences journalist for questioning state funds spending. Voice of America News, November 14, 2003.

Polio Cases Increase Thanks Largely to Indian Outbreak

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in April that cases of polio worldwide increased four-fold in 2002 due largely to an outbreak of the disease in India.

In 2001 there were only 483 confirmed cases of polio which shot up to 1,920 confirmed cases in polio after an outbreak in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. That was the single worst outbreak of the disease since the World Health Organization began its campaign to eradicate polio in 1988. Cases from the Indian outbreak constituted 71 percent of all polio cases in 2002.

Afghanistan, Egypt, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Somalia also reported cases of polio in 2002.

Source:

Polio cases on the increase. The BBC, April 25, 2003.